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The Yes on Measures E and G campaign is one of the most vicious I have seen in my 22 years living in El Dorado County. The proponents are using fear-based marketing strategy.
An anti-developer social media campaign fails to address the major issues. There is a stunning lack of substance. The Save Our County campaign seems to want to essentially end all growth in El Dorado County.
They will tell you otherwise and claim to return to a dated general plan from 2004 to bring balance back to the county among other highly restrictive anti-growth initiatives. But these measures have been reviewed by legal experts who conclude they are unconstitutional and fall outside state law general plan requirements. If Measures E and G prevail, there will be lawsuits at a cost to El Dorado County.
But here we are mired in a fight for the future of El Dorado County. Little has been discussed about the financial implications if Measures E and G pass, and therein lies the core of the issue.
El Dorado County depends on real estate property taxes. The county has tens of millions in unfunded liabilities for future health care benefits for retirees and multimillion-dollar law enforcement cuts in the proposed budget.
Property taxes, which are a lifeline to education, will be drastically impacted. Sales tax revenue will flatten out at best. One of the county's shining stars – the Community Services District – receives 47 percent of its revenue from property taxes.
We're teetering on the edge, and while we don't see an economic downturn on the horizon, it will happen. If Measures E and G pass, and the next recession hits, El Dorado County will be in dire straits.
Our beautiful county has so much to offer people who live here and visit. We should welcome controlled and appropriate growth, and reject Measures E and G.
Kevin Nagle, a founder of Envision Pharmaceutical Holdings, is co-owner of the El Dorado Hills Town Center, the largest local owner of the Sacramento Kings and lead investor in the Sacramento Republic. email@example.com


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Purged officials reignite party divisions in ChinaJune 4th, 2009 - 9:11 am ICT by IANS
Beijing, June 4 (DPA) Ignored by state media and the Chinese Communist Party, a book by purged party leader Zhao Ziyang has given renewed hope to dissidents in their 20-year campaign for justice over the brutal crackdown on the 1989 democracy protests at Tiananmen square.
Several former top officials conspired to ensure the publication of Zhao's secretly tape-recorded book four years after his death. Chief among them was Bao Tong, Zhao's aide in 1989, who was sentenced to seven years in prison in 1992.
He held out hope that the democracy protests of two decades ago would repeat themselves as today's young people grow older.
"When they have a job and feel the unfairness, when they find the one-party rule is the root of this unfairness, … when they know the corruption threatens themselves, they will know that one-party rule should be changed," he said.
The sensitive book, "Prisoner of the State: The Secret Journal of Premier Zhao Ziyang", supports open, multi-party democracy and media freedom and was published last month.
Zhao was removed from his post of party general secretary in June 1989 after opposing the use of force at Tiananmen square June 3-4, 1989, to stop the democracy protests. The military crackdown in central Beijing reportedly killed hundreds of unarmed civilians.
Zhao spent the rest of his life under house arrest until his death in 2005, writing his memoirs and then recording them on tapes that he placed in safekeeping with four retired ministers. They have now revived criticism of China's former leaders.
Bao told DPA that Zhao and Deng Xiaoping, China's paramount leader at the time of the crackdown, differed greatly on the handling of the protests, and he supported Zhao's argument that the bloodshed of 1989 was avoidable.
"On this issue, Deng and Zhao are completely opposite," Bao said. "The way of thinking is opposite, the policy is opposite, the results are opposite.
"When they saw civilians protesting, Zhao believed that it was a petition, it was a movement. Deng believed that it was anti-socialism, anti-Communist Party."
"Deng chose to crack down; Zhao chose dialogue," Bao said.
Zhao's book also accused Li Peng, China's premier at the time, of publishing a key commentary in People's Daily, the party's official newspaper, without the knowledge of Deng.
That commentary, which said the protesters were aiming to overthrow the Communist Party, was considered to have signalled a hardening in the party's attitude toward the demonstrators and provoked a defiant expansion of the protests.
Zhao said Deng bore ultimate responsibility for the military crackdown, arguing that without Deng changing his position, "There was no way for me to change the attitude of the two hardliners, Li Peng and (vice premier) Yao Yilin".
Whenever Deng mentioned stability, "he also emphasised dictatorship", Zhao said.
In his memoirs, Zhao argued that the party was wrong to categorise the 1989 democracy protests as a "planned conspiracy" that grew into "counter-revolutionary rioting" and said China should have developed a parliamentary democracy.
"If a country wishes to modernise, not only should it implement a market economy, it must also adopt a parliamentary democracy as its political system," Zhao said.
He said China and other developing nations that failed to implement democratic reforms had common problems of "commercialisation of power, rampant corruption, (and) a society polarised between rich and poor."
"If we had taken Zhao Ziyang's policy during June 4, I think the (economic) status of China today would be no worse than South Korea, no worse than Taiwan," Bao argued.
In his memoirs, Zhao asked the party to reconsider its assessment of the 1989 student protests.
"First, it was determined then that the student movement was 'a planned conspiracy' of anti-party, anti-socialist elements with leadership," he said. "So now we must ask, who were these leaders? What was the plan? What was the conspiracy? What evidence exists to support this?"
"It was also said that there were 'black hands' within the party. Then who were they?" Zhao asked.
Some commentators have expressed doubt that Zhao's questions would be answered in their lifetimes. They portrayed today's students and young, educated urban residents as a "me generation" with no interest in politics.
But Bao said he hoped that one day China's young would rise up as the 1989 democracy protesters did.
"They avoid politics, they are frightened of politics, but it is not that they don't like politics," he argued, predicting they would take a stance as they got older.
The persecution of Zhao, Bao and hundreds of dissidents and petitioners across China are the "evil consequence of one-party rule", he added.
"Now we have a small Tiananmen incident every day, at provincial, county, township and village level," Bao said.
- Publication of former China premier's Tiananmen diary halted - Jun 20, 2010
- Secret book reopens old divisions in China's Communist Party - May 16, 2009
- Xi Jinping and fragility of Chinese politics (Comment) - Sep 19, 2012
- China silent on anniversary of 1989 crackdown (Lead) - Jun 04, 2009
- China cracks down on dissidents despite dissident getting Nobel Peace Prize - Oct 29, 2010
- Dalai Lama expresses displeasure over imprisonment of Chinese dissident - Dec 29, 2009
- Dalai Lama pays respects to Tiananmen Square victims - Jun 04, 2009
- Chinese dissident plans empty chair protest for Nobel peace prize ceremony - Nov 21, 2010
- A Chinese pro-democracy delegation backs Tibetan exiles' autonomy demand - Mar 12, 2010
- Egypt Government still unconvinced over West demand for Mubarak ouster - Feb 06, 2011
- Leader of Tiananmen Square protests arrested in Tokyo - Jun 04, 2010
- `Fear of collapse' bars reassessment of Tiananmen crackdown - Jun 03, 2009
- China orders internet whitewash amid coup rumours - Mar 23, 2012
- People's for wish for democracy remains: Chinese writer Bi Feiyu (Interview) - Jan 14, 2012
- Shameful chapter in Indian democracy: Jaitley - Jun 05, 2011
Tags: bao tong, brutal crackdown, central beijing, china beijing, chinese communist party, deng xiaoping, deng xiaoping china, house arrest, media freedom, military crackdown, paramount leader, party democracy, reignite, s young, safekeeping, sensitive book, tiananmen square, unarmed civilians, unfairness, zhao ziyang

subset: commoncrawl


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SEVERAL COMPLAINTS!!! I ordered a vanity from this company.
I spoke with customer service online before I placed the order because I wanted to make sure that everything shown in the picture was included. She told me absolutely and that its the vanity shown in the picture. Fast forward to 2 months later (yes, it took two months from the time I ordered to actually getting the item delivered)... the 2 guys set up the vanity and its missing the mirror....
I said what is this? Delivery guy said they don't have the mirror for it and it didn't come as part of the order. I said YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME, WHAT!!!!!! Pissed off beyond belief.
You should see how *** this thing looks without the mirror that was supposed to come with it. Even the delivery guy said this company is horrible and that all they do is deliver for them. Complete false advertising. Liars.
Horrible customer service.
Don't do it. I have been trying all week to get in touch with someone and they don't pick up their phones
Review about: Vanity.
Reason of review: Not as described.
Monetary Loss: $450.
Preferred solution: Let the company propose a solution.
I didn't like: Bad business experiance.


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Michigan's Great Southwest Sustainable Business Forum hosted an educational programs and tour at The Golf Club at Harbor Shores on Monday, June 13. Thank you again to Brilliant General Maintenance for sponsoring this month's event.
The featured speaker was Bob McFeeter, Managing Director of the Harbor Shores Project as well as Evergreen Development and Real Estate Companies. McFeeter provided details on the two-year effort to build the Jack Nicklaus Signature Course and the myriad of sustainability issues encountered during the process that ultimately removed three million square feet of dilapidated buildings and over 140,000 tons of waste material from the Paw Paw River and surrounding areas.
Download McFeeter's presentation here (PDF).
Following the presentation was a cart tour of select holes provided by Course Superintendent, including Hole 14, an EPA Superfund site formerly used as a dumping ground for a furniture company that used radium in its products, and prior to that an aircraft construction center during World War II.
Other problematic locations included the driving range and clubhouse, previously used as a dumping for Osco Steel Mill Casting Company, and Hole 15, built on top of the former Benton Harbor Landfill.
Harbor Shores has since become a community asset and is playing a key role in the development of Benton Harbor. It donated 38 acres of waterfront land to the city and has provide public access to 12 miles of walking trails and public use of all cart paths. When asked if he has taken a moment to step back and take a proud look at the success of Harbor Shores, McFeeter replied "it will be successful when the rest of Benton Harbor has also developed."


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Click here for workshop descriptions >>
Click here to contact Dr. Brad about leading a workshop>>
Dr. Brad will be leading workhops at the Texas Counseling Association's Elementary Counselor's Conference and for Richardson and Dallas ISD counselors.
Dr. Brad Schwall, the creator of Cool Kids, leads parenting talks on a variety of topics. He leads talks on parenting pre-schoolers, effective discipline, teaching children to give respect and deal with bullying, effective communication, and helping children develop responsibility and confidence.
He leads parenting workshops that give tips for encouraging children to use the Cool Kids skills which may include children too. These interactive Cool Kids workshops include video and participation by the children. Cool Kids workshops focusing on specific Cool Rules may also be led for children.
Dr. Schwall leads talks for teachers on classroom behavior management and school counselors on social and emotional learning. Schools using Cool Kids may have him speak on using the lessons and Cool Rules in their classrooms to manage behavior, encourage pro-social behavior, prevent bullying, and create a positive learning environment.


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On the power of inquiry charts…my kids surprised me when…
Recently I had the honor of talking with Sara, a teacher in Iowa, whose students have started using inquiry charts. In a nutshell, these charts help students determine what is important and organize their notes as they read-view-listen to multiple sources. (If you're not familiar with inquiry charts, please check out an article I wrote for ASCD's EL The Case for Multiple Texts or this blog entry.)
Sara's students were engaged in a shared inquiry into the giant squid. This was their first experience with an inquiry chart – so everyone was using the same research questions and the same sources. Below are two examples of their charts. Notice the questions are across the top and the sources are listed in the first column.
I asked Sara to share what she noticed about the students during this experience and as we talked, two important points jumped out at me.
*The questions on the inquiry chart should be revised if your students realize the questions are not clear enough or are too big. Sara started with the question, "How does the giant squid catch and eat its food?" As they read-viewed the sources, though, they realized there was too much information to take notes on and explain in response to this question. Sara and the students reformulated the question to "How does the squid use its tentacles to catch prey?" The students were okay with changing the question–because it made the task more manageable and helped them determine what was important. More importantly, the students LIKED that the first question didn't work, they got to see their teacher problem-solve and they had the opportunity to help her problem solve. Formulating and reformulating the questions together has become a part of the process for the students.
BTW – this happens a lot. In my experience, developing "perfect" questions for the inquiry chart is hard. I have changed many a question once I've seen what students do with it. Totally okay. We want them to see the process and engage in this for themselves.
*Some sources may have more to offer students than we realize–especially when our students have started thinking across sources. I have looked at sources and thought, "Oh, no. They won't get anything from that" and then been super surprised at what they noticed (that basically I didn't!!!) Sara wanted to show the students a video of a giant squid. Finding a good video is hard when there have only been a few sightings of this mysterious creature. (Most of what we know is from examining dead squid that wash up on shore.) She found a video of a giant squid eating a fish. The video is raw footage taken by scientists with no narration or other helpful features. Sara thought it would be hard for the students to glean any new information from this, but it would be cool for them to watch. She was surprised at how wrong she was. They noticed all sorts of details in this video — because they had already learned so much from other sources. Students noticed that the fish didn't appear to change much in size over the course of the video, but then one reminded the others about how they'd read that a squid only eats grape-size pieces. Yes! That would explain what they were seeing. A few minutes later when the squid let the dead fish float away they did notice small tatters on the dead fish. This might have been where the grape size pieces were eaten away. They also surmised that the tatters might be from where the suction cups on the squid's arms – these suction cups have razors around the edge. Woohoo! The students were using what they already knew to help them make sense of a new source. The power of reading multiple sources on a topic!!!
BTW – when the students were done with their research, they used their notes to create a life size squid in the hallway, complete with captions detailing what they'd learned.
I discuss these issues and more in a chapter on inquiry charts in my new book with Heinemann – Nurturing Informed Thinking.
Okay. A BIG THANKS to Sara for sharing stories from her class with me.
Hope this helps.
When a student can't read a word
When students at the transitional or fluent stage of reading (DRA levels 18+ or alpha levels J+) struggle with a word, there are a few "go to" strategies and prompts I rely on. (I've attached a file at the end that lists these prompts 🙂
- "Is there a part you know?" If it's a word that has any parts they might know, I use this prompt. For example, a student was stuck on the word "acorns" in the sentence "Some bears eat nuts, acorns, roots and leaves." I lifted the word "acorn" out of the text by writing it on a dry erase board and then prompted the student to "look for a part you know." He was thrilled when he noticed the "or" and then his eyes grew wide when he noticed "corn" in the word as well. Decoding is not enough. Then I asked the student to reread and think with me about the meaning of that word. I said, "Let's go back and reread that sentence. (Student reads aloud.) Now what does the word 'acorn' mean in this sentence?" and we discussed how it must be a food like the other items listed in the sentence. I closed by saying, "When you're reading, you need to make sure that
- "Can you use a word you know to help you with this word?" Sometimes when a student is stuck, I look at the word and think about what part of the word they are struggling with. For example, one student was stuck on the word "join." I knew the "oi" was causing her problems. I wrote the word "coin" on a dry erase board and asked, "Do you know this word?" She did and read it aloud to me. "Can you use the word 'join' to help you with the tricky word?" and she figured out "coin." (BTW I've had this backfire when the student did not know the word I chose and then I just give it to them 😉 Then we reread and thought about the meaning of that word. She read the word in the text and we talked about what it meant.
- With some words, I'll ask the student, "Can you use your finger to help you look at the parts?" or "Can you look at the parts with your eyes?" As they do, I encourage them to think about what they know about each part. As described in a previous blog, when a student got stuck on the word "burrow" — I helped him use his finger to cover the end and asked, "Do you know that first part?" He recognized it as "bur." Then I coached him on how to cover the first part of the word and look at "row" which he did not know. Then I wrote "snow" on a dry erase board and he used that word to help him read "burrow." Finally I asked him to reread the sentence and think with me about what the meaning of that word is. I do not use my finger to cover up parts of the words. The student must use his finger because later when he is alone trying to problem solve, he will not have my finger to help him 😉
- "Was there a tricky part?" If a student mumble reads a word, hoping I won't notice that he doesn't know the word, I let him finish the sentence and then I say, "Was there a tricky part?" Usually they nod and then I say, "Can you show me?" and have the student point the word out. Next I say, "What can you do?" Tips –
- Let the student finish the sentence first. If you stop them at the point of error, then you have done the monitoring.
- Keep your finger out of their book. Make them use their own finger. That's part of the work you want them to do when they are alone, right?
- Sometimes I ask "Was there a tricky part?" and the student says, "Nope!" ;0 Then I ask them to reread the sentence and make sure what they are saying matches what they are seeing. If they notice their error, we talk about how what they said may have sounded right or made sense (if that's appropriate), but it doesn't look right.
- If the student does not know what the tricky part was – even after rereading, then I say, "Listen to me read this sentence. As I read, I want you to notice where what I say does not match what you see."
- "Are you right?" and "How do you know?" or "What can you do?" If you have students who read a word or get stuck and automatically look up at you without problem solving, you need to nip this habit. If I know a student has been taught word solving strategies and they appeal to me, I shrug my shoulders and say, "Are you right?" No nodding. No "Good job." Make them accountable. Follow up with "How do you know (you're right or you're wrong)?" and support them in verbalizing how they were strategic or what they need to do to be strategic.
- "That's a word you just have to know." When a student gets stuck on a word that has a mostly irregular spelling (e.g., only, unique, beautiful), I don't dig a deep hole for myself trying to help them figure it out. I just say, "That's a word you just have to know. It's _____. Let's reread that sentence and think about what it means." In other cases, I might give them part of the word (the irregular or tricky part) and let them figure out the other parts. For example, a student got stuck on the word "certain." He chunked it and after he'd gotten "cer" (with a soft c – ugh!!!), I gave him "tain." Then we reread the sentence to think about how the word was used and why. AND in yet other cases, I just think, "That's way over their head developmentally, I'm giving it to them and going on with my life!!!" That happens.
Honestly, if the word is not in the student's vocabulary, they may not be able to figure out the correct pronunciation. What's most important is that they at least understand the meaning of the word. That's why I strongly encourage students to check for meaning. When I help a student with visual cues, I always reread the text with the word and discuss the meaning of that word with students (even words like "only"). You may have to help them use context clues to figure out the meaning of the word and sometimes there are no clues so you just give them the meaning. If you need a reminder about the types of context clues students can look for when they don't know a vocabulary word in an informational source , see this blog entry I wrote.
Prompts for Supporting Word Solving
Sources that have helped me get better at prompting for word solving (in addition to a lot of practice) –
Next Step Forward (Richardson, 2017, p. 178)
Guided Reading: Responsive Teaching Across the Grades (Fountas & Pinnell, 2017, p. 414)
Teaching Strategic Processes in Reading (Almasi & Fullerton, 2012, Chapter 7–dense but hearty)
Hope this helps.
Our students know so little if…
When our students read just one source on a topic, I would argue they still know almost nothing about that topic or issue. I know you know this. It's not until they read, view, listen to multiple sources on that topic that their understanding is transformed. This is not a new point. My argument is that students should read more than one source on a topic on a regular basis. I'd even argue that every time they consult a source on a nonfiction topic or issue, they should consult another source or two or more.
Give yourself a moment to do this.
Last summer my husband and I discovered a tide pool with sea stars in it.
(Photo taken by Sunday's husband.)
I was immediately captivated and I wanted to know more. There was also a little spousal argument about whether the sea star is called starfish (my husband's term) or sea star (mine) 😉 That night, on National Geographic's website, I found the following:
Marine scientists have undertaken the difficult task of replacing the beloved starfish's common name with sea star because, well, the starfish is not a fish. It's an echinoderm, closely related to sea urchins and sand dollars.
Okay. I learned something new, right? But I wanted to know more. I searched again and found this time-lapse video of a sea star eating a clam. It's 30 seconds.
Cool, huh? Now I knew a little bit more. The sea star wraps itself around its prey to eat it. Now I wanted to know even more—particularly about how the sea star eats its prey so I found the diagram below. What do you notice?
(Sorry – this diagram is by Pearson; couldn't find the original source; it's all over the internet at different sites.)
Okay. My understanding expanded. The sea star has a stomach in the center of its body (now the video makes more sense) and the sea star has tubular feet that help it grasp prey like the clam. I wanted to know more so I went back to National Geographic's site and read this:
Unusual Feeding
Most sea stars also have the remarkable ability to consume prey outside their bodies. Using tiny, suction-cupped tube feet, they pry open clams or oysters, and their sack-like cardiac stomach emerges from their mouth and oozes inside the shell. The stomach then envelops the prey to digest it, and finally withdraws back into the body.
Fascinating, huh?
With each source I consulted, my understanding of the sea star developed depth.
I wanted to know more of course.
Then I came upon these photos (UC Santa Cruz). Take a moment to look closely.
These were taken over the course of three days (photo credit on the site to Kit Harma). This is sea star wasting syndrome that is devastating populations of sea stars on the west coast. With my understanding of the sea star–its physical features and how it eats–I had an even better understanding of how this is a horrific problem.
I kept reading because I wanted to know more and in the following days, my husband and I would check on our sea star several times–hoping that it still looked healthy and understanding so much more about what we were seeing.
My point is—What if I had stopped after reading the first source? I wouldn't know that much. How did my learning grow because I read another source and then another? My understanding was transformed.
How can we make this happen for our students? How can we nurture this type of informed thinking on a regular basis? Given how much misinformation is out there, this is an imperative, huh?That's what I explored with several colleagues and wrote about in my new book Nurturing Informed Thinking: Reading, Talking and Writing Across Content-Area Sources published by Heinemann. As we explored teaching with more than one source, the students' excitement got us hooked on doing this. It's hard to go back to using just one source after we observed this.
In this book, I write about so much of what I learned (selecting sets of sources, making it all manageable and so forth) plus I include nine sample lesson ideas in Chapter 3.
Here's a lesson idea for now. Use these sources on the sea star with your students to reveal the power of consulting more than one source. As they consult each source, pose questions like, "What did you just add to your learning?" Close with a question like, "Why consult more than one source?"
Hope this helps.
Hey, Mom! Guided Writing
"Who will you tell?" This is a conversation I've started having with students at the guided reading table before they write in response to an informational source. I usually start by saying something like the following:
When you go home tonight and your mom asks about school, you could just say, "It was okay" OR you could ask, "When I was born, did you lick me to keep me safe from predators like the mother impala does?"
They are with me at this point. Then I check in with each student, "Who will you tell about what you learned today?" The answers vary — mom, dad, grandmother, big sister, a best friend, another teacher.
This has become a regular part of my guided writing discussions with students in the elementary grades. A few weeks ago, after a group of students read and annotated excerpts from A Day in Space, they planned (using bulleted notes on a sticky note) for what they would say to someone later that day to explain why salt on the International Space Station has to be a liquid instead of a solid like on Earth. We orally rehearsed, engaged in shared writing of the first sentence or two (as a model) and then they wrote (what they were planning to say).
The language of informational sources is tricky–it's not how we talk on a regular basis. For many students this is an opportunity to work on oral language development as well as writing. By giving students time to orally rehearse and then write (with a real audience in mind), we are helping them develop an ear for what informational writing should sound like as well as what conversations about what we learned about the world might sound like.
The next day I checked in with the Day in Space students, "Who did you talk to last night?" They spoke enthusiastically about who they'd talked to. (A few hadn't 😉 We engaged in close reading of another excerpt of the article–how toilets on the ISS are different than those on Earth. They left armed with key details to explain to someone beyond the guided reading table. (How many of our students are identifying key details in sources but not explaining in their writing? 😉
This can be powerful. A teacher emailed me that she's been trying this. The students actually start the written response with "Hey, Mom!" or "Hey, _______." She takes pictures of the students with their writing and texts to the parents during the day using the "Remind" app. Parents have commented to her that this has changed conversation at the dinner table. Woohoo!!!!
A note of caution, though. You know your students better than I do. Tailor this to meet their personal circumstances, huh? One student told me she has no one to tell. She lives with her grandma who only speaks Spanish and the student only speaks English. I quickly encouraged her to choose a teacher at the school she could tell about what she learned. During a different lesson, another young man looked despondent as the other students chose someone at home to tell. His teacher told me later that he is pretty much on his own at home. I regrouped the next day and when we decided to tell his teacher about what he'd learned, he perked up.
Hope this helps.
It's about NOTICING when they need to compare/contrast
Lesson plan + set of follow-up sources.
It's not just about teaching students how to compare and contrast. We also need to teach them to notice when they need to ask comparison questions. Below is a description of a series of lessons I had the honor of teaching last week exploring this idea. I've also included a completed lesson plan using the three phase learning plan. I've also included a set of follow-up sources with which you could continue exploring this strategy.
Phase One – Meet the Source
- Introduced the source (NEWSELA article "A Day in Space" Lexile 840) with a simple gist statement: We are going to read an article about the lives of astronauts on the International Space Station. (You could ask students to read this on-line for Phase One.) (I know this is the same source I used in the last blog post. Could you have kids read it again with this different purpose? Or use one of the additional sources listed below?)
- Explored vocabulary "daily routine" with the following three steps:
- Kid-friendly definition (written on paper for all to see) – "tasks or chores that are done regularly (everyday)"
- Shared a personal connection – One of my daily routines is to make coffee when I get up.
- Asked partners to turn and share a daily routine; provided the stem "One of my daily routines is_____."
- Previewed & predicted – Asked questions like "What do you think you'll be learning about the astronauts' daily routines?" and "What do you notice (in the photographs, subheadings, etc.)?"
- Regrouped – After a teaching point, I posed this question for discussion – "What did you learn about the astronauts' daily routines?"
Meet the Strategy – Noticing and then Asking "Similar?" and "Different?" (Note: This may take two 20 minute lessons.)
- Taught the word "contaminate" with three steps.
- Introduced the strategy – When I began to read this article the first time, I noticed right away that the author was comparing life on the International Space Station with life on Earth. Let's look back at the first paragraph and I'll show you where I started to think that. (Shared reading of first paragraph in article.) When the author wrote, "Astronauts who live on the ISS follow daily routines just like those of us on Earth," I started thinking, "Oh, the author might be comparing these two things and that means I need to be asking important questions as I read like: How are ______ and ________similar?" and "How are _______ and _________ different?" Asking these two questions can help me determine what's important in the source and help me remember what I read. Placed these two questions out for students to notice.
- Shared close reading – We engaged in reading the paragraph about the astronaut's food that begins "Condiments like ketchup…" and goes on to explain how the astronauts' salt and pepper is liquid and why. As we read each sentence, we underlined details that explained how this is the same or different and wrote annotations in the margines. (I cut and paste the article into a word document for the Phase Two lesson.) A Day in Space 2_22_18
- Guided close reading – Students read and annotated paragraph that begins "They also use a different type of toilet…" (I picked this paragraph because there are a couple of sentences that go into depth.)
- Independent close reading – Students read and annotated paragraph that begins "After a long day in space, nothing's better than a good night's sleep…" that explains how astronauts attach themselves to the wall to sleep.
- Closing (discuss content and strategy) – What did we learn about how astronauts' daily routines are different than ours? How did keeping these two questions in mind help us as readers?
Meet the Response –
- Helped the students plan using their annotations. Below is an example of one student's plan; her group ended up writing about all three sections they had close read.
With a second group that needed more support, I wrote the key words they generated and they only wrote about that one section.
(I will write about both of these experiences more in the next blog entry 😉
- Leaned in to confer while they wrote.
- Briefly shared to close.
DRAFT OF THE PLAN. Three Phase Plan Day in Space Compare
ADDITIONAL SOURCES – You could do this lesson with additional sources, nudging the students to notice if they are good sources to ask compare and contrast questions and then close reading sections and asking these questions. You could also begin to compare/contrast ACROSS these sources 🙂
NEWSELA.com articles –
- "Five Things that Happen to Your Body in Space"
- "Primary Sources: Here's What It's Like to Spend a Year in Space"
European Space Agency site about daily lives of astronauts
NASA.gov site – The NEWSELA article "A Day in Space" was adapted from text at this site. You might set students up to explore this site further as they continue to ask comparison questions.
Hope this helps.
Three Phase Plan with "A Day in Space"
Here's an example of a lesson I gave using the three-phase learning plan that I introduced in the last blog entry. The source is an article from NASA.gov entitled "A Day in Space" (posted by NewsELA). This lesson might be used with 3rd-5th grade students or striving middle school readers. Below is a link to the filled-out plan. There's so much of teaching that I can't get into a "lesson plan," though, so below is a more detailed explanation of what happened in each phase.
Phase One – Meet the Source
The teacher and I gave the students a hard copy of the article to read as a whole. I started the lesson with this synopsis:
This article is about how astronauts live and work in space. One of the main ideas in this article is that astronauts do some of the same things we do, but in different ways. Let's preview to see what we think some of those differences might be.
I also introduced the vocabulary word "hygiene" which was the topic of one section of the article entitled "Hygiene in Space." Here are the four steps I used to introduce this word:
- Introduce the definition: Hygiene – the practice of keeping yourself and your surroundings clean and, as a result, healthy
- Help students associate: Thumbs up/down: Are you practicing good hygiene when you brush your teeth? Are you practicing good hygiene if you never wash your hands?
- Help students expand their understanding with Turn & Talk: Think of a way you practice good hygiene. Turn & talk about it with a partner. You might start with "I practice good hygiene by…"
- Link to text: There is a subheading in this article that says "Hygiene in Space!" What do you think the author will be explaining? Do you think astronauts practice hygiene the same we do?
I set the purpose for reading by saying, "As you read this article, think about this question: How is the astronaut's day in space similar to and different from yours?"
Then the students read. The teacher and I circulated, leaning in to confer with individuals. I closed the lesson by asking small groups to discuss the following questions:
- What did you learn about how astronauts do things differently from us?
- What else did you learn that you found interesting?
Phase Two – Meet the Strategy
During the following lesson, I introduced the pasta analogy and then engaged the students in underlining and annotating the section entitled, "Hygiene in Space!" Our guiding question for determining what to underline and jot in the annotations was, "How is living in space different than living on Earth?" This may seem easy, but during Phase One, when I asked this question, I got answers like, "Their toilets are different." I DID NOT get details about the difference, though. Students did not share how the toilet is set up like a vacuum cleaner, etc. By reading closely and stopping to think about specific details that we determined were important, I was hoping to deepen the students' understanding of this difference.
After we annotated this section together (my notes were projected with a document camera), student partners chose an additional section to read and annotate (with the guiding question in mind). Then individuals chose yet another section to work on independently. The teacher and I circulated and conferred, coaching students in how to annotate their thinking.
We closed with a conversation:
- Let's use our notes to help us describe the differences between living in space and on Earth.
- What do we think about what we learned? Would you want to be an astronaut at the space station? Why or why not?
- What did we do to read and learn strategically today?
Phase Three – Meet the Purpose for Responding
This was the prompt for the written response:
Would you want to be an astronaut who lives and works on a space station? Why or why not? Use what you learned from the article about the different ways astronauts do things and how this information has influenced your thinking.
I introduced and defined three vocabulary words students could use to describe their thinking: fascinating (def: very interesting), challenging (difficult but worth trying because you're interested), exasperating (extremely irritating, annoying). The teacher and I decided to give the students these vocabulary words as a tool for helping them respond more thoughtfully.
I modeled choosing one and listing details (as a plan for writing) from the source that supported this; then I coached them in doing the same.
Then I drew the students into a conversation and they helped me compose a sample response. This is shared writing. Then I coached in them in writing their own responses. Later I would read their responses and write a short note to each student. Below are a few examples of what the students wrote.
This was the first of a series of three-phase lessons focused on sources about different careers—app developers, animators, bee keepers, interpreters for the deaf and so forth. I'll try to blog more on that soon.
If you try the three-phase lesson with "A Day in Space," I'd love to hear how it goes!
Hope this helps.
Three-phase plan for learning?
Below is a guide I've developed for planning and teaching with informational sources. Each "phase" can be one or more lesson periods (20-40 minutes) based on the needs of your students. My hope is to make teaching with informational sources (texts, video, infographics, etc) more manageable. There's so much we can do with these sources, but there's value in a regular routine focused on helping students develop a deeper understanding of a source (guided reading/writing of sorts ;). This plan tries to provide a model for that.
During Phase One, you introduce the source to the students and they have an opportunity to read, view or listen to that source. As they engage with the source, you lean in to confer and check for understanding. Then you close with a discussion of the content they learned. Your goal is for the students to get a grasp of the source as a whole.
During Phase Two, you teach a strategy that supports students in closely reading-viewing-listening to a part of the source or if the source is short, the whole source. An example of a strategy is teaching the students how to self-monitor by coding for what they already know, what's new information or what they do not understand. Another strategy is using the pasta analogy to help students determine what is important as they underline and annotate a source for evidence that supports a main idea. This may occur with only a part of the source. Chances are–if the students understand a part of the source really well, they will understand the whole source better.
During Phase Three, students write or create a response to the source. This can be very short–a few sentences or a quick sketch of an infographic or it can be a little longer like a letter or they might just practice discussing in detail what they learned–orally responding. This serves to deepen their understanding of the source.
What I've given you are the basics. There's so much more I'd like to say, but hope to blog about. (I'm also working on a new edition of my first book Close Reading of Informational Texts due out next fall that will include more details.)
Below is a draft of a lesson plan template that you might use as a guide. I hope to blog in the near future about specific lessons I've given that use this template.
Three-Phase Learning Plan 1_12_18
Hope this helps. Would love to know what you think.
Helping Students Get the Most Out of Video Sources
I'll never forget the first time I taught students to unpack the information in a video clip. It was in a classroom studying ecosystems. I found the perfect clip. Two minutes! The content answered our essential questions. It was fantastic!
Yeah, right 😦
When I sat down to plan, I realized how complicated this was going to be. We can say a lot in just a few seconds. This video clip is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPHqUxxyLsY. In just the first 15 seconds of the video, there is a definition of the term ecosystem:
An ecosystem is a community of living things interacting with the non-living parts of their environment.
In the next 15 seconds, the narrator says this:
There are two primary parts of an ecosystem. The biotic part is made of all of the living things, like plants and animals, fungi, and bacteria and viruses. The abiotic part is made of non-living things, like rocks and minerals, water, and energy.
And while she's saying this, a chart appears on the screen with the words "biotic" and "abiotic" and examples for each.
Geez. That's a lot for students to grasp in just 30 seconds! The students would have to process what they were hearing and seeing–very quickly. I knew we had to do this because video has a become a regular source of information for students and it's a critical component of national assessments.
Here are a few suggestions based on what I've tried and learned since then (with some thoughtful colleagues and patient students):
- Students need a guiding question(s) to help them determine what is important in the video. Set a very clear purpose for gathering information from the video. Ask a question or a series a questions. Or ask the students to generate questions. Students can use this question or purpose to help them determine what information in the video is important. Examples of questions include: What are the essential components of an ecosystem? How did the social activists take risks? What was the effect of the Supreme Court decision?
- First, watch/listen to the whole clip. The students need to get a feel for the clip as a whole and start thinking about how it answers their questions.
- Then watch the clip again and ask students for a "thumbs up" when they hear content that helps them answer (one of) the guiding questions. With the first group I taught, this was about 12 seconds into the clip. What I found, though, was that they knew the question had been answered, but they didn't process the content enough to paraphrase what they'd learned.
- Make it okay to view/listen to that section of the clip again and again and again. Make it okay to "rewind" and listen to a chunk of the clip a few times to try to fully grasp what is being said and revealed.
- The students may need to watch the clip and then repeat what they just heard.
- Then they may need to watch it, think about it some more and turn and talk to a friend about what they learned.
- Then they may need to watch it one more time and write notes about what they learned.
- Prompt students to listen AND watch the video; to glean info from the visual parts of the video as well as the auditory. The students I was working with in that first lesson were working so hard to listen that they completely missed the diagram in the video. They also needed to glean information from what they saw in the video.
- Make it okay to just use a part of the clip. In the classroom studying ecosystems, we were exhausted by the time we processed the first twelve seconds of the video. I felt like they had used that section well and we needed to move on to other sources. Teach students to determine an important part that they are really going to focus on processing.
Okay. Hope this helps.
When kids 'mumble read' a word they don't know…
A few weeks ago I was in a conference with a student reading a book about the sea lizard. When he came to a word he didn't know, he mumbled the word and kept going. Do you have students that do this? These students are self-monitoring but they lack fix-up strategies. They know when they don't know a word, but they do not know how to figure out that word.
When he finished the sentence, I asked him, "What was the tricky part?" After he recovered from the shock of my question – because he'd been secretly hoping I wouldn't notice his miscue–he pointed to the word burrow.
Then I said, "What can you do?" He was at a loss.
I could have started this conference differently, but these first two questions are super important. By asking him "What was the tricky part?" I am messaging that productive readers self-monitor for problems, for when meaning is breaking down. If the student says there was no tricky part, I ask him to read it again and usually he notices a tricky part or he may fix his error. (If he doesn't…well, I have more to say about this in the next blog entry.) By then asking him, "What can you do?" I'm messaging that when we notice meaning breaking down, we need to do something.
When he didn't know how to figure out the word, I prompted him, "Can you use your finger to cover up the ending? And think about the first part of that word?" He did this and read the chunk "fur." Notice my finger has not been in his book yet. It's better that I get him to do the work instead of me.
When I asked him about the second part of the word – row, he said he didn't know that part. I realized he probably didn't know what sound "ow" makes in that word. I also knew that he probably did know other words with "ow" so I wrote the word snow on a scratch piece of paper. (I did not write how 😉
"Do you know this word?" He responded by reading snow.
Then I asked, "Can you use this word to help you read the second part of that tricky word?"
His eyes lit up. "ROW!"
"Now read those two parts together."
I could have stopped there, but I believe after we help a student decode a word, we MUST ask them to reread the sentence it's in and think about the meaning. So I said, "Let's go back and reread the sentence with burrow and think about what it means." Then we reread and used context clues to figure out the meaning of the word.
I have never blogged on how to help students with decoding while reading informational texts, but this type of experience has been popping up in my practice a lot lately. Just thought I'd share.
Hope this helps.


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US prosecutors are charging eight people with giving financial support for the recruitment and training of young men fighting with Somali Islamist militants, as part of an investigation into such men leaving the US to fight in Somalia. Some 20 individuals, nearly all of them of Somali descent, are thought to have left Minnesota to fight with militants in the last two years. US federal prosecutors accuse them of aiding Somali militant group al-Shabaab, which the US says has links to al-Qaeda. The rebels regularly pummel African peacekeepers protecting the country's fragile government. Several of the recruits have died, including in suicide bombings with most thought to be outside the US, according to US authorities. Read more: BBC, AllAfrica.com
"Joyfully to the breeze royal Odysseus spread his sail and with his rudder skillfully he steered." ~ Homer


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Scrubs caption contest! – September 12, 2011
Last Week's Winner
"I didn't know it would make him disappear…did you?"
– submitted by kgdandurant
This Week's Contest – September 12, 2011
What's your best caption? Leave it it in our comments. Be sure to check back next week when we pick the winner!
See our past winners here!
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"I TOLD the Physical Therapist to omit the moonwalking therapy from their treatment!! NOW look what he did!!"


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Let's Help the Mayflower
November is an important month for Pilgrims! Time to batten down the house, the garden, store the root vegetables, plan Thanksgiving. I used to get asked frequently if my name was real! Better yet I got asked i... read more
November 16, 2016 | 4 comments


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Master of Science In Travel and Tourism – 100% Online
100% Online–
The School of Sport, Tourism and Hospitality Management (STHM) at Temple University developed the online Master of Science in Travel and Tourism and Graduate Certificates to provide an unparalleled opportunity for individuals to meet the needs of the fast-paced travel and tourism industry.
The School of Sport, Tourism and Hospitality Management (STHM) at Temple University developed the online Master of Science in Travel and Tourism and Graduate Certificates to provide an unparalleled opportunity for individuals to meet the needs of the fast-paced travel and tourism industry.
Who Should Pursue the MS in Travel and Tourism?
Professionals working in tourism and areas of business dealing with tourism, as well as individuals looking to pivot from another industry, are well-suited for this program.
Career Accelerators
The MS in Travel and Tourism is a great fit for those looking to advance their career in travel and tourism. Industry professionals will develop the strategic mindset and analytical skills needed to lead in this growing industry.
Career Changers
The MS in Travel and Tourism can help professionals pivot from an existing career to the tourism industry by leveraging the business skills they already have. Possible employment organizations and sectors include:
The MS in Travel and Tourism consists of 10 three-credit courses. Students take one course at a time over a five-week period, equating to three courses each semester. This structure enables full-time working professionals to enroll full-time and complete the program in as few as 13-months.
The program can be done part-time and at a pace that is suitable to a student's work or personal schedule. Students have a maximum of four years to complete the program.
STHM's world-class travel and tourism faculty designed the master's program to consist of eight travel and tourism courses tailored for professional success.
These courses combined with a course in Statistics from the Fox School of Business Online MBA and an Applied Project or Internship, create a degree that is unique and unprecedented in the academic marketplace.
The Applied Project or Internship will be facilitated by STHM's Center for Student and Professional Development. Students will have the opportunity to develop an applied project with their current organization to offer a solution or strategic recommendation. The center will aid those not working in the industry to locate an internship.
The Statistics course must be taken before the Tourism Analytics and the Tourism Economics and Policy courses. It is advised that students take the Statistics course as early as possible to avoid delay in course scheduling. The remaining courses may be taken in any order.
100% Online
All content is available 24/7 in a mobile-friendly format, in addition to live weekly classes that enable engagement with faculty and students. The weekly sessions, conveniently held through WebEx, integrate discussion and project-based learning activities in which students break into small groups to solve authentic problems faced by today's travel and tourism leaders.
The flexible online format operates using the technology pioneered by the Fox School of Business Online MBA program.
Graduate Certificates
STHM is also offering three graduate certificates for the travel and tourism industry:
- Destination Management: For those individuals that want to coordinate the powerful experiences a destination provides that individuals cannot get anywhere else.
- Tourism Analytics: For those individuals for whom joy is in the details and are driven by a desire to extrapolate the value of the tourism industry.
- Global Tourism: For those individuals who want to turn a passion for travel into business or career opportunities by learning more about the ever growing and diversified tourism industry.
STHM takes a holistic approach to every application. This means that every facet of an individual's profile is considered when reviewing an application for admission. STHM does this to ensure that every admitted student is able to meet the expectations of this graduate program.
Want to know if your profile meets our criteria?
Individuals interested in having their academic credentials assessed prior to applying should consider completing and submitting a PRE-APPLICATION. Pre-Applications allow you to send the program information regarding your GPA, test scores and work experience and have that information evaluated by an admissions representative. An admissions representative will contact you within 48 hours with feedback on your academic profile.
Application Deadlines
Fall Semester Application Deadlines
- October 1 – Early consideration
- March 31 – International applications
- May 15 – Final scholarship deadline for domestic U.S. applications
- June 30 – Final application deadline
Spring Semester Application Deadlines
- October 1 – Priority scholarship deadline
- November 15 – Final application deadline
Application Requirements
To apply, individuals must submit all of the following:
- Application
- $60 Application fee
- Official transcripts from all undergraduate institutions attended
- GRE or GMAT scores. Individuals may qualify for a GRE/GMAT waiver based on academic or professional history. Submit a pre-application to see if you qualify for a waiver.
- 2 letters of reference (at least one of these references should come from an academic source, i.e., advisor, faculty, etc.).
- 500-word statement of goals
- Current resume
To be considered for STHM's Graduate Programs, individuals must meet the following minimum requirements:
- A bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university.
- A minimum cumulative undergraduate grade point average of 3.0.
- A minimum score at or above the 50th percentile on the GRE or GMAT. Individuals may qualify for a GRE/GMAT waiver based on academic or professional history. Submit a pre-application to see if you qualify for a waiver.
The minimum requirements outlined above serve as the basis for evaluation. Decisions are made after all application materials are received.
Tuition and Fees
The MS in Travel and Tourism follows a flat per-credit-hour tuition rate, meaning the tuition rate for in-state and out-of-state students are the same.
View the current Temple University tuition rates and utilize the tuition calculator to estimate your tuition rate. Select your student level (college graduate), residency (Pennsylvania resident- regardless of residency), school or college (School of Sport, Tourism and Hospitality Management), and credit hours.
The tuition calculator should be used to calculate tuition by semester. For the MS in Travel and Tourism, those enrolling full-time should estimate 9-credits per semester.


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Grace (V) (2014)
Runtime: 95 min
Genre : Drama
Movie Release : 2014 (USA)
Director: Heath Jones
Writers: Cindy Joy Goggins (story), Heath Jones (screenplay)
Stars: Annika Marks, Sharon Lawrence, Chase Mowen
Country: USA
Language: English
Gracie knows hangovers. She's intimately acquainted with them. But this one? Why did she wake up, half-dressed, on a Florida beach, 1100 miles from home? And this time her father – who also knows about the tragedy of addiction from his struggles with Gracie's mom – isn't going to clean things up. Suspicious and distrustful of everyone, including a café owner with a troubled history of her own, Gracie prefers the relief of alcohol – which had always worked for her. When she's arrested for public drunkenness and attacking a police officer, Gracie is given a choice: six months in jail or 90 meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous in 90 days, and she has to do it in the small town she's landed in. She's not used to strangers caring about her, but perhaps the power of community can help her sidestep the landmines lining her path to sobriety – especially the ones she's laid herself. "GRACE." compassionately looks at the disease of addiction through a young woman inching towards redemption.
Grace is a must see film. If you have family, friends or co-workers who are addicts (alcoholics) you will appreciate the realism of this film, if not, you will be entertained and grateful that addiction is not in your life. Annika Marks is fun to watch and never makes a misstep as an alcoholic. Sharon Lawrence as always, keeps your eyes glued to the screen. Cindy Joy Goggins plays a recovering alcoholic whose recovery is tenuous. Watch for scenes where she is drunk, they are funny and tragic at the same time. Lets hope that Grace gets wide distribution. Its an intelligent, entertaining film about the joys and pain of addiction.
Grace Trailer
Video Screenshot
Grace Movie Download
Movie Quality : 720p WEB-DL
File.Rocks Single Link : Grace 2014 Download
IDUP.IN Single Link : Grace 2014 Download
MyLinkGen Single Link : Grace 2014 Download
Grace 2014 Subtitle


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We all met for breakfast at 0700 at the hotel and were on the road to the village of Oudong before 0800. IT was about a 20 minute drive through some very pretty countryside. Along the way, we stopped for a big jug of water with a spigot on it so that we could fill our water bottles throughout the day. We turned off the main road down a red dirt trail and into the village, arriving at about 0810 to meet Mr Senh (Sing) who is the local leader of the project. The village itself is very poor with very few improvements. There's a pump for ground water (non-potable) and several homes along the dirt road main street. Dogs were every where as well as cattle and preschool age children. Dan and Vy told us that we would divide up into two teams of four to do the work, so I picked a number between 1 and 100 and the losers were Dan, Annie, and Winston. Vy led the others across the narrow road to their project and we surveyed the two big piles of raw materials that were deposited by where the van stopped: small granite boulders (about a foot or so in size), a stack of bricks, a pile of sand, and four half-meter length concrete cylinders about a meter in diameter each (maybe a little less).
Mr Seng led us to the back yard area behind one home and we met a Cambodian guy that was leading this construction. He had staked out wand strung the outline of the latrine--it was to be about two meters square. Just inside the lines/wire, he was using a hoe to rip up the ground and dig a ditch about one foot deep and the width of the hoe (about 8"). Our first job was to haul all of the boulders back to the muddy yard, then haul the bricks and restack then, then carry buckets of sand and 50 kg bags of Portland cement. We then carried buckets of water back and mixed the sand and cement in an open pit next to our project.
The leader (actually a skilled worker) had, by this time, completed the foundation trench and was lining it with the large granite boulders. As the concrete was mixed, buckets full went into the trench on top of the rocks and he and Mr Senh used tampers to level the foundation.
Once that was done, the first bricks were laid and we joined in doing the same. About this time, Dan also started digging a big pit next to the latrine that would house the concrete cylinders (turned vertically).The original goal was to dig a two meter deep pit and then stack the cylinders on top of each other to make a two meter deep septic tank system.
Dan got to work as Annie and started laying brick and Winston helped with hauling and mixing more concrete. That was the division of labor for most of the day, though I did dig some in the pit--enough to realize that a flat front edge shovel wasn't going to the the job when we started hitting dense whitish-colored clay as well as some buried clothes and other trash. Did I say the ground was REALLY muddy, too?
We took short breaks for fresh coconut milk (a good benefit of the job, since they came directly from the trees around us and were cut by the neighbors) and some regular water as well as taking photos--Dan with his Nikon and me with my Canon and 16-35 f/2.8L II lens. Kids watched us and we learned a few words of Khmer There also short breaks as we were hit with intermittent rain showers much like the "pineapple rain" one sees in Hawaii.
The work went quickly, though, and Dan dug quite a bit. Winston was a machine in the hole, too, but we started running into water issues. The water table is just so high here that even at one meter depth in the rainy season we had water seeping in. Mr Senh and Vy quickly decided that we would be changing plans for the pits and decided to dig one meter deep, but put the cylinders stacked two high next two each other. The adjustments were made, we found a pointy-ended shovel and Winston went to work. Meanwhile, Annie and I were laying bricks and actually having a good time doing it.
Did I say it was muddy? We were all covered in mud from the knees down pretty quickly. We also noticed that our work was being carried out only 10 feet from the family's covered pig sty, so that added a little "atmosphere" to our work. (It was a healthy looking pig, too) It was clear that the "lawn/work area" was well fertilized, too, as the grass was growing quite well.
We worked until about 1130, doing much more than we or the project leaders thought we'd accomplish, then took a lunch break. We drove about 10 minutes away to a place call "The Vine," a combination bed and breakfast, restaurant, and peppercorn farm. Dan told us that it was owned by the head of Equitable Cambodia and they would provide our lunches in each of the weekdays that we worked. We took off our shoes at the door and climbed to a second floor deck that overlooked a pool below, the peppercorn fields, and the Cambodia countryside--it was beautiful and the breeze felt wonderful. We also took advantage of the facilities to do a little personal clean-up.
Lunch consisted of and excellent sour fish soup, rice, and something that was the Cambodian equivalent of Egg Foo Yung. All of it was good, accentuated by the hunger brought on by a very tiring morning. We lingered a little while, but we were back to the work site by about 1330 to get more done on the latrines.
Progress picked up in the afternoon and the walls of our latrine were getting high enough that we could work standing up. Also, our work leaders had earlier installed framed doors into each latrine and we were now bricking around those. The other team's latrine was going well, too, with Hansena doing much of the digging in the morning, followed later by Dylan and Luke, plus a few of the locals.
Back at our latrine, Winston was singing (and inventing) work songs to laugh about all of the muck he and Dan were digging out of the hole as they continued to make progress and get muddier and muddier. Our walls continued to get taller and we enjoyed the work. I found it very calming, structured, objective, and logical--like laying tile.
We had a few more rain showers, but not too much in the afternoon. WE continually recharged the concrete/mortar pit by hauling more sand and water, but ultimately decided to call it quits for the day at about 1630. I took a set of "after" photos to document where we were for each project. The cylinders were set for Team 2, while we were close to doing so. The doors looked solid and both latrines had about the same total number of bricks laid. WE wondered if by us leaving the real experts might actually get it done quicker than if were there and they had to take the time to fix our mistakes.
On the way back, we stopped at a small convenience store and the cadets bought soap for doing sink laundry and a few other sundries. Back the hotel, Luke, Winston, Annie, and Hansena immediately ran to the beach and umped into the water wearing their Equitable Cambodia shirts. They were having fun and they waved to Dylan an me as we watched from the balcony of the Beach House.
We weren't going to dinner until 1830, so Dylan and I decided to try out the trail behind the hotel that led into the national forest. It was called the Stairway to Heaven and it had small yellow signs telling us the distance in meters to landmarks along the trail. We started at 1714 and decided to hike until 1725 and then turn around and return to clean up for dinner.
The trail started with about 100 stairs and then transitioned to a single track dirt trail that had about a dozen switchbacks through the jungle before arriving at a small Buddhist Temple on the side of the hill that overlooks Kep Beach and the water. It took us almost exactly 10 minutes to get to this point and we were encouraged by signs pointing out reasonable distances to the summit of the mountain and other landmarks. We'd climbed 129 meters in altitude (0ver 400 feet) and were again covered in sweat.
The hike down was quick and uneventful and we were both back in our rooms before 1740. I used the time to do sink/shower laundry, download files, and process some of them.
We departed the hotel with Vy and Dan at 1830 and went to out for seafood to a local place that had great grilled fish, shrimp, and squid, plus cheap beer, but horrible service. We enjoyed dinner, though, especially the fact that you could get about 12 BIG grilled shrimp for $5. We were back in the hotel by 2030.
I'd like to pick out a few photos to show here, but it's getting late and the easiest way to do this is to just link to the zenfolio gallery and slideshow, so here it is!
January February March April May June July August September October November December
January February March April May June July August September October November December
January February March April May June July August September October November December
January February March April May (14) June (14) July August September October November December


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Contact Us
For further information about O'keefes Cleaning Services, please do not hesitate to get in touch. We are always happy to help.
Telephone (Somerset): 01823 339807
Telephone (Devon): 01392 953017
Mobile: 07834 361543
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
O'keefes Cleaning Services
Unit B,
Cornishway South,
O'keefes Cleaning Services (Devon) Ltd
Director: Erin O'keefe,
Registered in England Company No. 07056253.
Carl's Cleaning Services (Somerset) Ltd t/a O'keefes Cleaning Services
Director: Carl O'keefe
Registered in England Company No. 07466033.


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|Re: [jira] Updated: (DERBY-1655) Document XML functionality for 10.2
|Fri, 25 Aug 2006 18:13:55 GMT
Army, What about checking the "Release Note Needed" flag then? -jean A B (JIRA) wrote: > [ http://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/DERBY-1655?page=all ] > > A B updated DERBY-1655: > ----------------------- > > Derby Info: (was: [Patch Available]) > > I think all of the patches for this have been committed (at least, all of the doc changes that I suggested in DerbyXMLDoc_v2.html are, I believe, complete) so I'm clearing the "Patch Available" flag. > > At some point there has to be a release note w.r.t to XML saying, at the very least, what version of Xalan is recommended/tested for Derby. I'm not sure if that release note should be posted to this issue (as a doc thing) or to DERBY-688 (since that's where most of the 10.2 XML was completed). I guess my tendency is to lean toward the latter. > > Either way I think this issue can be "Resolved". If we decide later to put the release note here, we can do that before closing this issue. If we decide to put the release note into DERBY-688, we can close this issue when that decision is made. > > >>Document XML functionality for 10.2 >>----------------------------------- >> >> Key: DERBY-1655 >> URL: http://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/DERBY-1655 >> Project: Derby >> Issue Type: Task >> Components: Documentation >> Affects Versions: 10.2.1.0 >> Reporter: A B >> Assigned To: Laura Stewart >> Fix For: 10.3.0.0 >> >> Attachments: ctoolsimport27052.html, derby1655_devguide.diff, derby1655_devguide2.diff, derby1655_devguide3.diff, derby1655_devguide_html.zip, derby1655_devguide_html2.zip, derby1655_devguide_html2.zip, derby1655_ref.diff, derby1655_ref2.diff, derby1655_ref3.diff, derby1655_ref4.diff, derby1655_ref5.diff, derby1655_ref6.diff, derby1655_ref_html.zip, derby1655_ref_html2.zip, derby1655_ref_html3.zip, derby1655_ref_html4.zip, derby1655_ref_html5.zip, derby1655_ref_html6.zip, derby1655_tools_html.diff, derby1655_tuning.diff, derby1655_tuning_html.zip, DerbyXMLDoc_v1.html, DerbyXMLDoc_v2.html, ref_html3_comments.txt >> >> >>DERBY-334 and DERBY-688 have added an XML datatype and four XML operators to Derby. These are all going to be exposed to the user for general use as part of the 10.2. release, so the datatype and operators need to be documented accordingly. > >
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Homecare Coding Concerning Primary Diagnoses
Posted on Monday, March 13, 2017 10:28 PM
There is a huge discussion going on in homecare coding concerning primary diagnoses. Differing choices or using symptom codes for a primary diagnosis is currently frowned upon. There is ICD-10 coding guidance that supports these choices in certain cases. Symptoms can be used as a primary diagnosis when no definitive diagnosis is available.
Even though many agencies refuse to use a symptom code as primary, the coding guidance supports the practice as long as the cause of the symptom is unknown or not stated. There can be contradictory opinions about the choice for primary diagnosis when more than one diagnosis meets the criteria without creating a coding error in certain cases.
The 2017 official coding guidance supporting these coding options is stated below:
A. Codes for symptoms, signs and ill-defined conditions from Chapter 18 are not to be used as principal diagnosis when a related definitive diagnosis has been established (if no definitive diagnosis is present-code the symptom).
B. Two or more interrelated conditions – each potentially meeting the definition for principal diagnosis. When there are two or more interrelated conditions potentially meeting the definition of principal diagnosis, either condition may be sequenced first, unless the circumstances of the admission, the therapy provided, the Tabular List, or the Alphabetic Index indicate otherwise.
C. Two or more diagnoses that equally meet the definition for principal diagnosis. In the unusual instance when two or more diagnoses equally meet the criteria for principal diagnosis as determined by the circumstances of admission, diagnostic workup and/or therapy provided, and the Alphabetic Index, Tabular List, or another coding guideline does not provide sequencing direction, any one of the diagnoses may be sequenced first.
Make every attempt to obtain the cause of symptoms to avoid using these as a primary diagnosis. Keep in mind that the choice for primary diagnosis may differ when more than one diagnosis meets the criteria as primary – only if there is no mandatory sequencing applied in those cases.
Written by Mary Deakle, HCS-D, COS-C, Corridor's Manager of Compliance and Education.
About Corridor
Corridor is a trusted home health and hospice consulting partner to agencies both large and small. We provide the most up-to-date comprehensive homecare industry educational resources and consulting available.
We specialize in delivering better revenue cycle management solutions, coding and documentation review services, regulatory compliance, and healthcare consulting.
For the most important industry updates and news that impacts home health and hospice, please make sure to sign up for our weekly newsletter to receive the latest up-to-date industry information direct to your inbox!
For additional information, please contact Corridor at 1-866-263-3795Go Back


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Making your new year resolutions stick
A new year tradition: succeed or continue as you were?
With each new year comes new year resolutions we commit to ourselves in the hopes of making us fitter, more focused and all round better people than we were last year.
As early January passes, more often than not, our commitment to those resolutions wains. How can we stick to the new year resolutions we made? It's easier than you think…
1. Have a clear goal.
Know exactly what you want to achieve no matter how big or small, and believe in it. If you don't believe in it, change it or you won't commit to it.
2. Have achievable steps.
Break down your goal into achievable steps that you can knock off a little at a time. It makes your goal less intimidating and daunting that way.
3. Celebrate your progress.
We don't do this enough. Celebrate every step you take toward your goal, be it a giant leap or a ladybird step. Give yourself some kudos, it's a step further than you were yesterday!
4. Be accountable.
Have someone who will hold you accountable- a friend or family member or a colleague. If you've got someone checking in on how you're going, you'll soar.
5. Journal.
Take the time to write down what you've accomplished and reflect on the learnings and insights you've had every day along the way. By doing this you're able to see your progress more easily, reflect on what you've done and endeavour to do it differently next time. You may even want to use your journal to capture what you're grateful for along the way.


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Japanese food delivery in Dubai
Japanese food is becoming very popular across the world, and some of the finest Japanese restaurants can be found in Dubai. When many people think of Japanese cuisine, their first thought is about raw fish dishes like sushi, but there is much more depth and texture to it than that. Fish and seafood are very important in Japanese cookery, and are often eaten raw, but there is also a great range of noodle, rice and soup dishes to tempt the palates of budding gastronauts in Dubai.
But eating out at a Japanese restaurant can sometimes be a bit tricky. The best eateries are often fully booked, or are not open at quite the right time to suit you. Deliveroo has a solution to this stress. We are working with Dubai's top Japanese venues to ensure that your favourite dishes can arrive as a punctual delivery at your door.
Where might we find you?
- Academic City
- Al Aseefa
- Al Badaa
- Al Barsha 1
- Al Barsha 2
- Al Barsha 3
- Al Barsha Park 1
- Al Barsha South
- Al Jaddaf
- Al Manara
- Al Quoz 1
- Al Quoz 2
- Al Quoz 3
- Al Rashidiya
- Al Safa 1
- Al Safa 2
- Al Satwa
- Al Sufouh
- Al Warqaa
- Al Wasl
- American University of Dubai
- Arabian Ranches
- Arabian Ranches 2
- Burj Khalifa
- Business Bay
- City Walk
- Concourse A
- Corniche Deira
- DXB Arrivals
- Damac Hills
- Deira
- Deira City Centre
- Design District
- Discovery Gardens
- District One
- Downtown
- Dubai - District 11
- Dubai - International City
- Dubai Creek
- Dubai Mall
- Emirates Hills
- Emirates Tower
- Emirates golf club
- Falcon City Of Wonders
- Festival City
- Garhoud
- Healthcare City
- Ibn Battuta
- Index Tower
- Internet City
- Internet City 2
- J.L.T. West
- JLT Connector
- Jafilia
- Jebel Ali Village
- Jumeirah 1
- Jumeirah 2
- Jumeirah 3
- Jumeirah Golf Estates
- Jumeirah Heights
- Jumeirah Islands
- Jumeirah Park
- Jumeirah Village Circle
- Jumeirah Village Triangle
- Karama
- Knowledge Village
- Madinat Al Jumeirah
- Marina
- Marina Mall
- Marina West
- Meadows 8
- Media City
- Meydan
- Mirdif
- Motor City
- Nad Al Sheba
- Nadd Al Hamar
- Palm Residences
- Pinza Basic
- Poke
- Port Saeed
- RemRaam
- Safe Zone 1
- Safe Zone 2
- Satwa
- Sheikh Zayed Road
- Silicon Oasis
- Souk Al Bahar
- Sports City
- Springs
- Springs 1 and 2
- Studio City
- Sufouh Beach
- The Greens
- The Lakes
- The Meadows
- The Palm
- The Villa
- Umm Al Sheif
- Umm Ramool
- Umm Suqeim 1
- Umm Suqeim 2
- Umm Suqeim 3
- World Trade Center
- Zabeel
What's on the menu?
Dubai: Get the best Japanese food dispatched to your door
While sushi is perhaps the most famous form of Japanese cuisine in Dubai, other items such as tempura are also becoming more familiar to diners across the nation. Tempura consists of food, often seafood or vegetables, which has been coated in a light batter and then deep fried. Seafood such as shrimp, squid and crab is a particularly common ingredient in tempura.
Indeed, seafood is what Japanese cuisine is most renowned for in the wider world. As a nation of islands, surrounded by the Pacific Ocean, fish and other seafood occupies a very prominent place in Japanese cuisine. Short-grained, sticky rice is also traditional, and accompanies many traditional Japanese dishes, but there are also many noodle-based dishes to enjoy on a typical Japanese menu. The use of seasonal ingredients is important to many chefs, and restaurants will always endeavour to reflect this aspect of Japanese cuisine, wherever they happen to be in the world.
Now, thanks to Deliveroo, you can enjoy great Japanese cuisine from your favourite venues as a takeaway. So order, sit back and relax, as the tastiest dishes wing their way directly to your door.


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No Toll Free Number
Local: (928) 851-2206
Desert Pueblo RV Resort Amenities
20 Amp Service
30 Amp Service
50 Amp Service
Credit Cards
Fire Rings
Full Hookups
Game Room
Laundry Facilities
Picnic Area
WiFi Access
Desert Pueblo RV Resort Links
Desert Pueblo RV Resort Photos
Passport America Highlights
80 total RV sites, can accommodate RVs up to 60ft, sites are 30X60, 20/30/50 amp, full hookups, pull thrus, FREE Wi-Fi, clean private restrooms, hot showers, laundry room, fire rings at picnic area, propane, ice, recreation hall, clubhouse, RV storage, activities scheduled daily, music jam sessions, bingo, cards, yoga, hiking, biking, horseshoes, ATV/UTV trails leave from the park, daily rides. Area Attractions: If you like friendly, small town hospitality, and enjoy a quiet, laid-back town, you will love Bouse, Arizona! We are centrally located between Parker and Quartzsite. Parker is on the Colorado River with great fishing & water activities, along with an 18 hole golf course and a casino. Quartzite holds the annual World's Largest Gem & Mineral Show.
Important Campground Notes
55+ Park. Open year-round! PA is valid for 3 nights max. PA is valid once per month. PA cannot be combined with another discount or special offers. Credit cards accepted. Pets welcome. *Rates is for two people per site. Additional charge for each additional person.
From Lake Havasu: AZ-95 S 35 miles into Parker. Turn left onto AZ-95S (California Ave). Follow AZ-95S to AZ-72E, at stop light and continue straight. Take AZ-72 E for 15 miles to resort (1 mile past Bouse) on right side of the road. From Phoenix: I-10W to Exit 45 for Vicksburg. Turn right onto Vicksburg Road, 5.9 miles. At traffic circle continue straight on Vicksburg Rd for 2. 1 miles. Then turn left onto AZ-72W for 18 miles. Resort is on left.
Tent Camping
No information available for tent camping
Rental Accommodations
No information available for rental accommodations.


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- Home
- Testimonials
- About Me
- Toastmaster Services
- Contact
- Wedding Venues
- Photo Gallery
- Blog
If you are looking for a Master of Ceremonies for your event and looking for someone to ensure your event is delivered correctly you have come to the right place.
See what a difference a Master of Ceremonies can make to your event, I will take on the following role(s):
More than that, using The English Toastmaster as a Master Of Ceremony for your event means that you can be assured that your event will be formally presented with dignity and professionalism.
Contact me today on 01908 222 502 or 07974 816 919 to speak about your event.
What Makes Me The Best Master Of Ceremony For Your Event
1. Understand The Event
This applies to all types of ceremonies, from weddings to bar mitzvahs. The key to being a good Master Of Ceremony is confidence and knowing what's going on.
2. Smiling
Smiling shows the room that you're at ease and having a good time. You want your gustest to be at ease and ensure they are having a good time.
3. Engage With The Room
I am keeping your guests informed about the ceremony, and giving the talent or featured individual time to prepare to go in the spotlight.
4. Funny But Serious
Nobody likes a dull host and I am far from it. I try to be funny where appropriate but never lose track of the purpose of the event.


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Gerard Butler
What is about Gerard Butler in romantic comedies that makes him so excruciating to watch? Is it his complete lack of comedic skill? His absence of charm? His poor handle on the American accent? His unique ability to say yes to the worst scripts? The answer: all of the above, and The Bounty Hunter proves it.
Created and Edited by Matthew Pejkovic / Contact: firstname.lastname@example.com
created by Colony Graphic Design / Copyright © Matthew Pejkovic


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Want more from Genius Kitchen?
Watch on your Apple TV, Roku, or Fire TV and your iOS, Fire, or Android device.Learn More
"Adapted from one of my favorite tilapia recipes to work with cod, mixed with one of my favorite spices, fresh basil. You can substitute dry white wine for the broth, or half and half it would be best. This is a great white no fail fish dish for any night of the week. I do like to serve it with potatoes or spinach to help accent and absorb the sauce. Do not hesitate to use lemon juice from concentrate, for fresh lemon can be too strong. If using fresh lemon use half, then add more to taste."
Pan-Fried Cod With Lemon Basil Sauce
0 recipe photos
READY IN:20mins
Ingredients Nutrition
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1⁄4 cup lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 (6 -8 ounce) cod fish fillets
- 1⁄4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1⁄4 teaspoon freshly craked pepper
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 1⁄2 cup flour
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1⁄4 cup fresh basil, chopped
- Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat.
- Sprinkle fish with salt, pepper & paprika. Coat fish in flour on a shallow dish, shake off excess flour.
- When oil heats add fillets and saute 3 mins both sides.
- Remove fillets from pan and pour broth, lemon juice, and chopped fresh basil into the hot pan. Bring to a boil and whisk in 4 tablespoons of butter for 1 to 2 minutes, then simmer for 5 to 10 minutes till sauce reduces by half. Basil will turn the color of steamed spinach, it is okay, you will taste the sweet basil accent in the sauce.
- Serve sauce over fillets.
get the genius kitchen app.
Watch on your iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Android, Roku, or Fire TV.Learn More


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Drilling has begun at Kiandra in the Snowy Mountains as part of the feasibility study for Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's much vaunted Snowy 2.0 project.
Workers have drilled down more than a kilometre to extrac samples which will be sent to Sydney for geotechnical analysis.
The drilling is part of feasibility work to determine if Snowy 2.0 is viable.
The ambitious project could produce 2000 MW of power but to do so would require major earthworks, as the 8 hydro electric turbines would be houses in a vault around 1 kilometre underground.
There is only one site under consideration for the 2.0 project, because it is the only one which delivers sufficient tunnel gradient to generate 2000 MW.
Snowy Hydro is expected to make a board decision in mid 2018 on whether the project should go ahead.


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To help you better organize information in your brain, here's some helpful tips I've found...
Look for Repeats
Information that is most important is often repeated through the piles of details. Look for that information, and focus on it.
This tip came from Psychology Today
Dump it First and Then Revisit
This is something I have been doing frequently for the last 20 years, and it's very helpful, especially in high-emotional situations like arguing with my sister, but it's more for written, planned communication, and it's very time consuming for the amount of information in the mind of someone with autism. Sometimes, it's just as overwhelming to see the information on a computer screen as it is in your head.
But the way it helps is to just write all the crap in your mind down. It's no big deal if it's organized, or in any order, or even makes sense at all. Just dump all your thoughts out.
Then do one of two things:
- If info overwhelm... Delete it. If you go back to it later for that "good idea," you'll be overwhelmed when you remember all those details. Delete it, and then rethink what was most important.
- If emotional overwhelm... Reread, and highlight all the positive stuff and cross out all the negative stuff. Then reread the positive only without the negative.
Work Backwards
Try to frequently ask yourself what it is you are truly trying to achieve. Are you talking with someone and want them to feel happy after talking to you? Or maybe you want them to be angry. Maybe you are just thinking about life and want to feel better. Whatever it is, think of the end result and work backwards.
Eliminate any information that stands in the way of your goal. Include information that will help you achieve your goal.
Outline the Big Picture and Wrap it Up
Try to make a brief outline with one word to small phrases for each line. This is the big picture, so you want, think English Class, a beginning, middle and an end.
The end part is usually the most complicated for autism. It truly is an art to learn how to end a message. For purposes of yourself, you are probably seeking closure, but for purposes of communication, think about that English Paper's Conclusion.
You don't want to add new information to the last thing you say. That requires more self-control than forethought. But what you want to do is summarize all you just said in a nutshell because more than likely, the person you are talking to tuned you out a minute ago, and this is the sentence they are listening to in order to formulate a response.
Also, you want to make sure you answer, "So what? Why should we give a f...?" Some people might call that "relevancy." But telling someone what you just said is one thing as it does help them realize what should have been obvious, but if you really want the information to resonate with them, you have to flat out tell them why it's important to them.
So basically, the last thing you should say in a conversation is what you consider so obvious it should go without being said.
Use Proper Paragraph Form
Think in paragraphs. Use basic English class's "Main Idea" and then "Supporting Details."
It's very common for autism to think of details first and then come up with the main idea from that. That's fine. But most people don't base their main ideas from supporting details and facts. Most people (according to studies) base their opinions and main ideas on emotions, feelings, self-identity, and social things (tribal mentality and herding instinct), and then from there, they find details that support their hypothesis generally ignoring all details that say otherwise. Autism usually does the exact opposite, and it's better that way. Your main ideas are generally more accurate as a result. BUT people don't think like that, so the most effective way to organize that information is to do it the way they think.
Two reasons that last point is true...
- For purposes of communication, you want to display the information the way the person you are talking to thinks
- For purposes of self organization, this is a road that is already paved for a reason. It is more comfortable to think like that. If you can translate your cluster of details into a main idea and supporting details, it will be less overwhelming.
Organizing information in your brain doesn't have to be overwhelming if you clear out the clutter once in a while. Thinking about English Class really helps a lot, but the most important thing to do is to consider your ultimate objective and try to work to achieve that (eliminating anything that gets in the way).
More info for ADHD
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Book Review
Communicating The User Experience is bought to us by Richard Caddick and Steve Cable of Bristol based user experience agency CX Partners.
Communicating The User Experience provides a practical guide for anyone working in UX and Design. In this book, Richard and Steve introduce the reader to a number of common UX tools and techniques that are used to model the user experience (personas, mental models, sitemaps, content audits and more).
After introducing a technique Richard and Steve then provide guidance for how to document findings and deliverables into streamlined UX documents.
The book contains a series of 'how to' guides allowing you to re-create the UX documents displayed within various desktop applications such as Omnigraffle, MS PowerPoint, MS Excel and MS Word.
About The Authors
Richard Caddick (@richardcaddick) is the Managing Director and co-founder of user experience agency CX Partners. Steve Cable (@steve_cable) also works at CX Partners as a Senior User Experience Consultant. CX Partners have undertaken work for some extremely well known clients such as Spotify, BBC, Ebay and TUI.
Who's It For?
The book is great for anyone working day to day within a UX team, it provides practical examples of what streamlined UX documentation should look like.
Where To Get It?
You can purchase the book from Amazon